Stalemate

Governor Pataki and New York state legislators can't agree on a budget and can't agree on how to meet a court mandate on school funding.

It's an old story, and neither side seems interested in doing a better job of seeking compromise.

But in this case, there's a court deadline for making a decision. That should encourage compromise. Neither the governor nor the legislature should want a court-imposed solution.

In June 2003, New York's highest court ordered the state to rework its formula for distributing school funding, finding that New York City children were not receiving the "sound, basic" education promised in the state constitution.

That 2003 ruling set a July 30, 2004, deadline for presenting the court with a plan that corrects inequities in the state formula. A change in the formula should help lower-income communities elsewhere in the state, as well as New York City.

Pataki has one proposal for answering the court's mandate. The state Senate has another. The Assembly has still another.

All of the bills would provide more school funding, with Pataki and the Senate relying on increased gambling revenue.

Pataki has called legislators to a special session Thursday to address the issue, but there's no sign agreement is near.

There's always hope, however hope that the governor and legislators will understand that they were sent to Albany to get things done, not just blame each other for what goes wrong.